News
Postdoc position open!
We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher with a strong background in computer science or computational biology to develop new methods to analyze paleo-biological data. The successful candidate will work in a Swiss National Science Foundation supported project. We have funds to support the postdoc for 2 years, and for travels and research visits abroad. The postdoc will also co-supervise at PhD project and have the possibility to apply to prestigious and generous fellowships from the SNSF to start an independent career after completion of their post.
01.02.2022
A perspective on a new research
An exciting, new study by Sibert and Rubin in Science based on deep sea core sediments suggests that today's low diversity of oceanic sharks might be the result of a dramatic and mysterious extinction event, ~19Ma.
Pimiento and Pyenson wrote a perspective on this finding, pointing out that such dramatic biodiversity loss feels like a déjà vu given that today, overfishing is causing an extinction of similar proportions (but at at a much faster rate) not only in the the open ocean, but also in shallow waters.
04.06.2021
Our new publication
We analysed the oldest fossil occurrences of all extant sharks and rays and found that while living genera extend 190 Ma,
species can go back in geologic time as far as 66Ma. Interestingly, species currently threatened with extinction have the oldest records.
02.11.2020
Catalina's career and research highlighted in the Colombian press
15.09.2020
The most read newspapers in Colombia, El Tiempo and El Espectador, published a profile of Catalina's career and her research on Megalodon.
We infer †O. megalodon body dimensions based on anatomical measurements of five ecologically and physiologically similar extant lamniforms. Our results suggest that a 16 m †O. megalodon likely had a head ~ 4.65 m long, a dorsal fin ~ 1.62 m tall and a tail ~ 3.85 m high. Morphometric analyses further suggest that its dorsal and caudal fins were adapted for swift predatory locomotion and long-swimming periods.
Our new publication
03.09.2020
Shark Week? We have the facts
Jack wrote a series of articles on the Bristol Dinosaur Project Blog about all we know about Megalodon. These aim to provide accurate information on the species during The Discovery Channel's Shark Week.
14.08.2020